Salsa & Mambo Video Reviews

Susana Montero

Spinning technique for men and women

Level: Beg-Adv

Style: On1-On2

Content: Spinning Technique

General Comment: Susana Montero is a proficient performer, an instructor of international fame (excellent both for group and private classes) a great social dancer, and has considerable experience with instructional DVDs; from everything she does you expect 5 star, anything less would be a surprise. And indeed this DVD delivers the expected 5 stars: it is solid teaching, with no distractions and no frills, after all you expect to learn, not to be entertained, right? So be ready to listen carefully to every single word, maybe more than once, because the information in this DVD summarises years of experience in dancing and teaching with so many different people and so many different styles.

The DVD is roughly divided into 3 parts: the first goes through the basic technique for spinning, which is independent of salsa and applies to whatever dance you may want to learn. Then there is a section in which the concepts are applied to typical turns which are common to salsa. All instructions are given carefully both for ladies (who need to follow) and for men who have to perform the turns while or after leading. Then there is a final section addressing the difference between turning (leading and following the prep) for multiple turns on1 and on2; this is something I had not seen in any previous DVD and it is very interesting and useful.

All this is pure gold for both students and instructors; Susana does not take any salsa style as givn, rather assumes that her students may be dancing any style and give hints on how to adapt each element to different styles as well as different tastes. She has been around for a while, she has seen a lot and she delivers (very well!) as much as she can in a single DVD. Highly recommended.